One of the great promises in the New Testament is that of freedom.

Christ has set us free from bondage to the Law given on Mt. Sinai (Galatians 5:1), free from sin (Romans 6:7), and free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). These freedoms in Christ are precious indeed.

While we are free, we are still slaves. If we are in Christ then we are slaves of obedience (Romans 6:16), righteousness (Romans 6:18), God (Romans 6:22), and Christ himself (Galatians 1:10). We are under the “royal law” (James 2:8), and serve King Jesus.

This means that our actions, attitudes, and doctrine must be aligned with his desires. Our pride and selfishness must be abandoned as we carry our cross and follow him.

But there are those who promise unfettered freedom. Service to God seems like such a chore. Why must you give up who you are or what you love for the will of someone else?

Peter spoke of this attitude in clear terms:

“But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children!  Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire” (2 Peter 2:12-22 ESV).

That was a long quote, so if you skipped over it please go back and read it.

Notice that these false teachers promised freedom yet they were “slaves of corruption” (2 Peter 2:19). Because they were slaves of corruption, Peter could likened them to irrational animals, blots and blemishes, and accursed children.

This type of freedom enslaves people to peer pressure, doubt, misery, pride, envy, and self-loathing. We are the worst kind of master. When we serve self we become miserable.

True joy is more than a veneer of pleasure, and it requires more than a modicum of effort. But the end results are satisfying in every way.

Praise God that he can rescue us from ourselves!

Remember, you will always serve something. Choose your master carefully.

Lee Parish, link to original article